Creating the musical program for the Grec Festival of Barcelona must be a bit like deciding how the city will sound throughout July. Or at least, a representative part of the city’s stages, which these days host big names from the international circuit such as Max Richter (in the photo. Photo: Marie Sutter), stars from the national scene like Rozalén, and local (and universal) voices like Lucia Fumero, among many others.

Among the first events is one set at the Arc de Triomf with the city itself as performer. It’s Teatres de campanya_Interferència 02: brief approach to the farewell of the Comtal route through the back arch door. Route at 110 bpm Teatres de campanya_Interferència 02: breu inici d’aproximació a l’acomiadament del trajecte comtal per la porta de l’arc del darrere. trajecte a 110 bpm), a creation by Marc Salicrú with chaotic, epic, utopian, atavistic performances by Les Brigades de Confusió Popular (featuring many familiar names), with the collaboration of many municipal services. Because the machines and elements that cause the noise around us now become instruments of a giant orchestra. July 5 and 6, evenings, free entry.

A few days earlier, on July 3, Clara Peya will have opened the musical programming at the Teatre Grec with sold-out tickets. The artist closes the tour of Corsé, her latest album, under the stars of Montjuïc. On July 5, fans of Lucia Fumero— a Barcelona star who has been on this stage but never as the main act—will get their moment. She will be accompanied by many friends and the visual arts collective Desilence, essential collaborators for a magical evening.

Rozalén debuts at the Teatre Grec on July 7 with a concert full of inclusion, social commitment, and emotion from her El Abrazo tour. This is the first visit to Montjuïc by one of the great voices in Spanish singer-songwriter music.

On Tuesday, July 15, the festival’s epicenter stage hosts Max Richter’s classical and electronic sounds, performing pieces from his latest album In a Landscape as well as from the reissued The Blue Notebooks (2004), set against the backdrop of the Iraq War.

On July 22, the Teatre Grec will stage a show commemorating the 55th anniversary of the release of the album Dioptriaand celebrating the life of its creator, Pau Riba, in a tribute artistically directed by Caïm Riba. Musicians from the master's generation and many artists from the new generation, all touched by the genius of the father of Catalan rock, will participate. It’s Pau Riba: Dioptria, 55. Like a Midsummer Night’s Dream.

If you were used to La Nit del Musical in past editions, this year there’s La Nit del Músic Alt. Who was this “tall” musician and what does he have to do with a specific stage genre? Come discover it in a congress of experts brought to the Teatre Grec by the Banda Municipal de Barcelona, directed by José Rafael Pascual Vilaplana, alongside a large cast of musical theatre actors and actresses.

Not all the festival’s program takes place at the open-air Montjuïc theatre. The city’s main musical institutions are involved, starting with the Gran Teatre del Liceu. In a new collaboration with DHub, ÒH!PERA offers three micro-operas combining talents in dramaturgy, musical composition, and stage direction. Technicians from local training centers collaborate on the productions, coordinated by Àlex Ollé. On July 25, 26, and 27, you can explore different spaces within the Rambla theatre to see these contemporary small-scale operas — a unique experience with 100% Barcelona talent.

Palau de la Música hosts a program focused on young talent during Grec, featuring performances by symphony orchestras and choirs from various places: Jove Orquestra de les Comarques de Girona (July 21), World Youth Choir & Daniel Reuss (July 24), and Joven Orquesta Nacional de España (July 28). Additionally, on July 12, the Palau, in collaboration with Grec, presents The Veil of the Temple by John Tavener (2022), a hypnotic and sophisticated choral work performed by the choirs of Orfeó Català. Pau Masaló directs the staging, with musical direction by Simon Halsey. This is a special chance to visit the little-known Sanctuary of the Mare de Déu del Carme in Eixample, designed by the famous architect of Fabra Observatory and adorned with Modernist mosaics by ceramist and set designer Lluís Bru. You will feel surrounded by a sea of voices inviting reflection and peace. Come if you seek transcendence and calm.

Equally unique is the Casa Studio of Leopoldo Pomés, where this renowned creative lived and worked. On July 24, as part of the Bachcelona festival, Breaking Bach will perform the concert The rest is silence. The group and repertoire are worth it, and so is seeing the exquisite refuge Pomés created in the heart of the Gràcia neighborhood.

Among other Grec Festival musical proposals, calls to sensitive souls include when the poems do what they do by Aja Monet, a jazz and poetry show with hip-hop elements at Molino on July 10. At Paral·lel 62, the festival features two double nights with four outstanding female voices leading the way: the Mediterranean connection of Marina Satti and La Maria (July 20), and an evening with Arooj Aftab and Mar Pujol (July 24).

Flamenco returns with stellar moments at the Courtyard of the Nou Barris District Headquarters, home to a new edition of the flamenco festival Desvarío (July 17–19), preceded by two evenings of music and flamenco lectures at the Museu de la Música on July 15 and 16. There will also be flamenco at CCCB on July 10 and 11 with the series Martinicos le di a mi cuerpo.

Finally, percussion and metal lovers have two unmissable events: the campanologist Llorenç Barber’s concert L'espai alliberat at the Jardins de Rubió i Lluch near the Biblioteca de Catalunya on July 8. The musician “intervenes” the city with bells in this free concert, part of the Museu Antoni Tàpies’ Extramurs initiative.

Also notable is percussionist Núria Andorrà’s concert Reencarnacions II: Reflectir on July 19, related to the 50th anniversary of the Joan Miró Foundation. She improvises inspired by a 1986 performance by Belgian artist Hugo Roelandt at the foundation. Discover her if you love sonic avant-garde.